EC English Language Centres, the Malta-headquartered international education group, has signed a lease agreement for premier commercial property in Miami Beach to house its fifth US school and its 11th worldwide, executive chairman Andrew Mangion told The Sunday Times.
EC Miami, at Suite 301, 1111 Lincoln Road, will officially open on December 1 and welcome its first students on January 3 next year.
The school’s 1,000 square metres on the third floor of the landmark building are currently being remodelled to include 14 classrooms accommodating around 200 students.
EC Miami’s team will be led by centre director Amanda Ross-Gomez who joined the group recently from its largest competitor Kaplan International Colleges, where she was director of its Los Angeles centre.
Originally from Chicago and fluent in French and Spanish and proficient in Japanese, EC Miami’s centre director is widely travelled and brings extensive experience in management, hospitality and education to the role.
Mr Mangion said the establishment of the Miami school was part of EC’s long-term vision for its North American operations.
“When we set out to open our first US school in Boston in 1992, we embarked on a growth plan for North America. We knew we had to establish EC in major US cities as they are key on the EFL (English as a foreign language) circuit,” the executive chairman explained.
“We have since set up in many of those important locations – New York, San Francisco, Boston, San Diego – but there are still a few more we have our sights on. Miami is another milestone for EC.”
The group first examined the business opportunities in Miami in late 2009 and had originally planned to acquire an existing operation. Mr Mangion explained EC’s remarkable expansion has been fuelled primarily through acquisitions, although its latest schools in Bristol and San Francisco stemmed from organic growth.
The prospects for acquisitions in Miami proved uninteresting however, and EC changed tack, opting instead for a greenfield project in the Miami Beach area. Identifying suitable property housing 1,000 square metres for lease to accommodate the school proved to be the next challenge.
EC engaged global real estate services and investment management consultant Jones Lang LaSalle to assist with the search. Six visits to Miami Beach and a handful of property bids later, 1111, on the partly-pedestrianised Lincoln Road, fit EC’s specifications.
Located 10 short blocks away from the beach among fashionable restaurants, cafes and shops, 1111 is close to cosmopolitan Ocean Drive, home to the world-famous Art Deco hotels and the shopping mecca on Collins Avenue.
The distinctive building is famed for its $65 million, seven-storey car garage that is so spectacular it is hired for weddings, wine tastings and glamorous events.
The ‘carchitecture’ – boasting panoramic views and no exterior walls – was featured in the New York Times last January. Developer Robert Wennett entrusted Herzog and de Meuron, the Swiss firm responsible for the Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium in Beijing, with the project. It was completed last year.
“Miami is a very attractive destination for young adults – the 18 to 30-year-olds – from western European markets,” Mr Mangion said.
“It is a key destination for Swiss, German, Italian, and French students and very exciting for us because we have excellent contacts in these markets. We also see potential from the CIS, Brazil and Asia. There is limited competition for us in Miami – we are confident we will be able to win some of the existing business and there is considerable growth potential. With the US doing so well over the past two or three years, destinations like Miami will really prosper.”
EC Miami, whose opening will coincide with the city’s peak season, will be featured in the group’s 2012 brochure which goes to print next month and will be launched at Study World, the major EFL trade event in London in September.
Mr Mangion pointed out that the Miami school will further consolidate EC’s US business under the stewardship of chief of operations, North America, Sue Camilleri, a Briton married to a Maltese who joined the group in 2002.
EC forecasts significant growth in student numbers at each of its US centres and new additions to its destinations on the continent.
Mr Mangion said the US will become the group’s single largest destination within the coming year, taking over from the UK operation where EC has centres in London, Cambridge, Bristol and Brighton.
Between the US, the UK and Cape Town (representing a third continent for EC) almost 80 per cent of the group’s business is now conducted outside of Malta.
Mr Mangion said the addition of new centres in the US was imperative as the group was losing some business through its absence in key destinations such as Los Angeles. Students select English language schools primarily according to destinations, he pointed out.
Admittedly, the expansion of EC’s US operation has posed operational challenges for the Ta’ Xbiex headquarters which houses all the centralised functions like admissions, sales, marketing, finance, and IT.
Time zones are an issue and teams work extended or adjusted hours to ensure there is sufficient contact time with the American centres. A sub-headquarters based in the US is now in the offing.
However, Mr Mangion insisted EC is “very proudly a Maltese organisation”.
The group is to move to larger headquarters in December to accommodate 80 staff more comfortably, and with room for expansion to 130.
EC also holds a 50 per cent stake in Expanish, the successful Argentina-based Spanish language education company, for which it has expansion plans and has dealt with issues like international accessibility very effectively.
Mr Mangion said EC will continue to be based in Malta for the “foreseeable future”, as long as it continues to have access to a talent pool at a reasonable cost.
The group’s growth has been funded through retained earnings and bank finance, and it has been successful in maintaining low leverage levels.
Established in 1991, and well on its way to achieving a sound, high-level global positioning, EC’s long-term expansion plan will eventually involve equity.
“That is on the cards,” Mr Mangion said. “We have structured the company to be able to consider equity sooner rather than later.”